The three most influential design philosophies of the past century have been Modernism, American Industrial Design and Postmodernism. Each broke with precedent in its own way but the enduring legacies of these pioneering movements mean that contemporary designers are struggling to articulate a stylistic philosophy of their own.

Anna-Alexia Basile is an extraordinary photographer and artist from San Francisco. In her #EnsemblExchange, she shares what inspires her work, how imperfection is crucial to achieving beauty, and why a human connection is essential to capturing the perfect shot.

In her Exchange, Tamsin Rush shares with Ensembl why she thinks beauty is important in our homes and why style is a construct. Plus, we discuss the role for AI in design and how our collective awareness is impacting the products we make and the products we purchase, and vice versa.

An inside look at the first profession the world invented when it began to have everything it needed. One finds individuals with a deep-rooted desire to anticipate the future, pursue aesthetic beauty for its own sake and are very, very competitive playing field.

Andreas Bell, President of TEAMS Design USA, tells #EnsemblExchange that the role of an industrial designer is to be an advocate of meaningful ideas and how functionality should be highlighted, not compromised, by product design.

Long believed to be a fundamental human trait that cannot be learned by a machine or an algorithm, creativity is not out of the technical reach of AI research. This opens up fascinating possibilities for human-AI collaboration where anyone in the future could become an artist or a designer.

The act of photographing food and photographing sex have a lot in common. From allowing us to live out guilty pleasures, showcase excess, and portray unrealistic expectations - just like its sexual counterpart, #foodporn is here to stay.

Nick Anderson, aka @forkinpancakes - the popular breakfast-centric Instagram account - tells #EnsemblExchange to turn off those horrible yellow kitchen lights when taking food photos, how to bring out the beauty in food, and why cinnamon rolls will be the last breakfast he eats.

Konstantine Malishevski, the master bespoke tailor of Toronto fashion store Gotsyle, tells #EnsemblExchange that color, personality and accessories are the key to any great style and that a perfectly-tailored statement suit is just one of the essentials for a modern man’s wardrobe.